Sundin elected into HOF

[s e n s i]

1st ballot

arguably one of the greatest swedes to ever play in the NHL, one of the greatest leafs ever

congrats to mats. HOFer all the way...just utterly dominant for so long. shanahan got the shaft, but someone had to unfortunately. good for mats, i love him. the real captain clutch!!!

[whysoserious]

Awesome news. Was really hoping he would get in on first ballot.

Very unerappreciated in his time in Toronto and was rarely surrounded by talent equal to his. He carried Modin to a 30 goal campaign no?

Put a true superstar next to him and you likely win a championship or at least make the finals during the Leafs big runs.

He also doesn't get the respect he deserves here because he's not Canadian. Probably the most talented player we've had of the past 30 years.

[sanity]

He deserves to be there

Modin... Hoglund... Ponikarovsky... as 1st line mates? We've done a shtty job surrounding him with talent. He was a great ambassador for hockey in this city, its such a shame the team couldn't ever compete amongst the elite

[hsb]

Awesome, easily my favourite Leaf.

Aside's from Joseph, who was a reliable goalie, the Leafs management are to blame for only two conference finals during Sundin's tenure.

I'm not sure when the Leafs will get another talent like him. Congrats to Sudin, well deserved.

[whysoserious]

He deserves to be there

Modin... Hoglund... Ponikarovsky... as 1st line mates? We've done a shtty job surrounding him with talent. He was a great ambassador for hockey in this city, its such a shame the team couldn't ever compete amongst the elite

Considering how close we got to the Finals without much help is a testament to how good he really was. Roberts and Mogilny were the closest things to even legit teammates he had and Roberts was probably better suited to being a second line winger but at times was forced to play up with him and Mogilny while still talented was not really in his prime and at the high-level sniper that should have been paired up with Sundin.

[UN-Owen]

Sundin was a great player, but greatest Swede ever?

I think Lidstrom and his 7 Norris trophies would strongly disagree


Let's not forget about Forsberg either, who was probably the best player of his era

[YogiStewart]

yeah, just because Bob Cole was always peeing his pants over Sundin, it doesn't make him the best Swede to play in the NHL.

if it was based on his NHL play, there would be no way I'd vote Sundin into the Hall of Fame.
but if you want to see how good Sundin was, just watch the highlights of him playing for his national team. that's when i realized how great of a player he was.

[UN-Owen]

yeah, just because Bob Cole was always peeing his pants over Sundin, it doesn't make him the best Swede to play in the NHL.

if it was based on his NHL play, there would be no way I'd vote Sundin into the Hall of Fame.
but if you want to see how good Sundin was, just watch the highlights of him playing for his national team. that's when i realized how great of a player he was.

Sundin has 1349 points in 1343 NHL games while playing with the likes of Steve Thomas and Jonus Hoglund

[whysoserious]

Sundin was a great player, but greatest Swede ever?

I think Lidstrom and his 7 Norris trophies would strongly disagree


Let's not forget about Forsberg either, who was probably the best player of his era

Sundin basically had very little help in his time in Toronto, he carried the likes of Hoglund to 30 goal seasons. I would rank Lidstrom ahead and Forsberg had he not been injured would be ahead of both but I think Sundin actually gets shafted for who he was surrounded with. He could have easily had a ton more points, a few Finals appearances and maybe a Stanley Cup had he been surrounded with some additional help.

He is easily a top 3 swede of all time, could be argued 2nd behind Lidstrom and only ahead of Forsberg due to longer career.

[s e n s i]

it's arguable definitely. lidstrom, forsy, and salming could all be considered the GOAT swedes, probably more so than mats. but i agree wss, sundin's best crack at a cup was when the leafs surrounded him with aging vets in 04 with francis, nolan, leetch, etc. in his prime he was playing on lines with modin, hoglund, thomas, reichel, korolev, and still managed to be a point-a-game player. not only this but he was amazing defensively as well.

first swede to tally 500 goals (practically a lock for inductees)
first euro born and bred player/forward to be drafted 1st overall, and subsequently most games played
most points, goals and assists by a swede ever

most goals and points by a leaf
most game-winning goals by a leaf, most game-winning goals out of the other 2012 inductees
2nd most assists all-time in leafs history

he's a lock in every sense of the term for the HOF. whether or not he's 1st ballot is a different story, but there is no doubt he deserves to be in, even just going by his NHL career. factor in his dominance on the international stage and he's easily a top 3 swede ever. *edited the OP so people don't get their panties in a bunch. congrats to mats!

[UN-Owen]

I think a better case could be made for Sundin as the greatest Leaf ever, as sad as that may be

[UN-Owen]

OP,

"Arguably one of the greatest Swedes to ever play in the NHL"


Be careful out there on that limb...

[whysoserious]

I think a better case could be made for Sundin as the greatest Leaf ever, as sad as that may be

He's easily the most talented player the Leafs have had in the last 30 years. Him and Gilmour would be right there, but Gilmour got a lot more out of himself, he didn't have the same talent level as Sundin.

Sundin was also very durable, I don't remember too many lengthy times off for Mats. He was a two-way centre who takes the blame for them not making the Cup but he never truly had great wingers. Mogilny probably the most talented that was at an advanced age for Mogilny.

[CPT]

Was never my favourite (not that I didn't like him), but hands down the best player to ever wear the Maple Leafs jersey in my lifetime.

Glad he got into the HOF on the first ballot.

[YogiStewart]

two questions, with one of them serious:

1. who's planning the parade route?
2. do Leaf fans really care that he's in the HHOF? like, i feel like they "care", but this isn't Wendell Clark or Doug Gilmour level of caring

[s e n s i]

i have a better question: if it was based on his NHL play, why wouldn't you vote sundin into the HOF?

-out of the 138 forwards in the HOF, only 18 have tallied more points than sundin, only 12 have scored more goals, and only 23 have more assists
-tied for 2nd most OT goals in league history
-top 10 in GWG
-top 20 in shorthanded goals (4 goals back of being top 10)
-tied for most consecutive 70+ pt seasons (15)

it's just perplexing but i'm sure if he did all this as a winnipeg jet then he would be a lock, am i right?

[whysoserious]

two questions, with one of them serious:

1. who's planning the parade route?
2. do Leaf fans really care that he's in the HHOF? like, i feel like they "care", but this isn't Wendell Clark or Doug Gilmour level of caring

Toronto fans for some reason love to root for guys that work hard, play hard and achieve above what they think they can do. Hustle guys like Domi and Tucker and Jerome Williams get more respect from fans than the VC's or Mats Sundin's.

Gilmour and Sundin were the two most talented players the Leafs have had in the last 30 years and yet Gilmour gets way more love from fans than Sundin ever did or will. It's also cause Sundin was European, that plays a part in it to some as well.

I will stand by the fact that Sundin was the best player we've had in the last 30 years, it shouldn't even be a debate. Yet, somehow he gets knocked down for a variety of reasons. Very rarely was he surrounded by talent that a number 1 center should be playing with.

[UN-Owen]

i have a better question: if it was based on his NHL play, why wouldn't you vote sundin into the HOF?

-out of the 138 forwards in the HOF, only 18 have tallied more points than sundin, only 12 have scored more goals, and only 23 have more assists
-tied for 2nd most OT goals in league history
-top 10 in GWG
-top 20 in shorthanded goals (4 goals back of being top 10)
-tied for most consecutive 70+ pt seasons (15)

it's just perplexing but i'm sure if he did all this as a winnipeg jet then he would be a lock, am i right?

You don't even have to get that specific

1349 points in 1346 games is all anybody needs to know

[hsb]

two questions, with one of them serious:

1. who's planning the parade route?
2. do Leaf fans really care that he's in the HHOF? like, i feel like they "care", but this isn't Wendell Clark or Doug Gilmour level of caring

Toronto fans for some reason love to root for guys that work hard, play hard and achieve above what they think they can do. Hustle guys like Domi and Tucker and Jerome Williams get more respect from fans than the VC's or Mats Sundin's.

Gilmour and Sundin were the two most talented players the Leafs have had in the last 30 years and yet Gilmour gets way more love from fans than Sundin ever did or will. It's also cause Sundin was European, that plays a part in it to some as well.

I will stand by the fact that Sundin was the best player we've had in the last 30 years, it shouldn't even be a debate. Yet, somehow he gets knocked down for a variety of reasons. Very rarely was he surrounded by talent that a number 1 center should be playing with.

What's interesting is Sundin was also the hustle guy, worked hard and did things people wouldn't expect.

His offensive numbers speak for themselves, but he was a player that executed great in defence, threw his body around and became one of the best players to muscle the puck away from anyone on the opposing end.

Some good quotes from Sakic and Sundin in Puck Daddy's article: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu ... --nhl.html

[UN-Owen]

Sundin was like a Mario Lemieux lite

Big, strong, fast, with a hard, accurate shot and soft hands